The Pacts of Runaways
by Spider Milkshake
Summary: Could not resist including a Prime incarnation of Alexis from Armada into the world, especially considering how excellent a character Prime Starscream is. It's a case of snarky teenager meets snarky giant alien robot. Shenanigans ensue. (Takes place shortly after the MECH T-cog incident). Some cursing and references to abuse. Non-slash.
1. Chapter 1

The Pacts of Runaways

[Content: Primeverse, References to abuse, Neutral Starscream, sassy teenager]

Chapter 1:

It once had been a construction site. Had been was an important designation ever since the government had shut down the building. Supposedly, it had been for unsafe foundation-laying practices, with the bonus of off-books hiring and wage theft. Alexis suspected the former with a grudgingly simple reasoning: The U.S. government wasn't particularly well-known for protecting worker's rights. At least not any more than they had to for the sake of reputation.

She had come to the abandoned site before. There, she avoided prying eyes. Folks regarded the place with suspicion—everything from radioactive waste dump to visitations from aliens was jawed about. She wouldn't be surprised if the government (or, more likely, the very yokel locals who suspected foul play) dumped garbage there—radioactive was pushing it. And some of the claims of military jets pulling close fly-bys sounded legit—or at least believable.

As she sidled across a concrete girder towards several half-formed walls she snorted. Alexis had come here previously as a dare, another time as part of an underage party. This was the last place she really wished to be, but it was the only one left that promised shelter without the overbearing pressure of others. People would always recommend the same thing—"Are you _sure_ you can't stay at home?", and "Aren't your parents worried?", and worse yet "You'll miss your parents soon enough—it's better to just go home."

At the end of the girder she dropped down into a pit—a pit that was to be a sublevel, or maybe a maintenance tunnel. Currently it housed truck-high piles of gravel, stacks of peeling and grayed two-by-fours, pieces of snack food wrappers and the huge, darkened entrance to the most finished structure, the only one with a complete roof.

Her own problems had forced the wacky conspiracy theories out of her mind. She entered the shadows of the concrete block and had those thoughts reversed.

There was something inside already, something big. Huge; the shape leaned up against one of the walls, coming up past the one-story mark even in its crouched position. The dark made several faint patches of reddish light on its torso stand out even clearer, more ominously.

She had been about to say something, something like "Who the hell left this crappy excuse for a Halloween decoration in here? Ooo, it has red LEDs, _scaaary!~_ " when the form let out a deep groan. And Alexis had been about to laugh that off too. Except the eyes opened.

It had eyes. Red eyes, much brighter than the faint patches of light on its abdomen, much too bright to possibly be the result of a tech-savvy prankster. She noticed with a nervous swallow they were also much _angrier_ than those of an immobile prop, glaring down at her figure outlined plainly by the exterior light.

"'Sup," she blinked, rooted in place but too dazed by the reality of this to be afraid. Yes, indeed, there was a _creature_ staring her down. A building-sized, spiky, red-eyed, metallic-looking creature. With a disconcerting and grumpy slant to its heavy brows.

A long moment passed in which the giant thing and Alexis both blinked several times. The creature's brows raised very slightly.

"Do what?"

Its voice was just as huge as it was, resonating against the surrounding walls; it was just as raspy and abrasive as she imagined it would be as well.

For a second Alexis pondered running for it while the thing was still confused. The size of it, though, meant she would not get far if it decided to give chase.

"Uh, 'Sup." She repeated; the thing tilted its head. "As in 'what's up'. You know, like 'how are you', but faster?"

With a mental wince, she considered that reply had been sent out with too much sass attached than was wise. The thing sat up straighter and loomed over her.

"And why would you ask _that_ ," it snarled, bringing its hands closer to the light and revealing the fact they were tipped with razor-like claws, " _human?"_

"Uhh…" she shrugged, watching the points of its talons with healthy wariness, "Common courtesy?"

"Really," it seemed to scoff, baring silvery teeth in a snarl as it leaned back into its original position. For a second its red eyes widened, one brow lifting as it stared into empty space. As its gaze shifted back to her Alexis wondered why she hadn't run yet once again.

"This place was abandoned by humans," it mused, "So why are you here?"

"I could ask the same of you, man." She winced in real-time now. Maybe this thing hadn't torn her apart yet, but the first things flying out of her mouth seemed the type of stuff to encourage the thing to use its talons. Backchat was probably the wost possible thing to approach monsters with.

"That's nothing that would concern you," Alexis thought she detected a hint of defensiveness from it. It straightened up with claws held out, wings that had been folded and hidden against its back flaring out. For a second it started to reach, as if to grab her, but faltered, "How dare you even ask. I could have killed you twice over already. I will ask again— _what are you doing here."_

Her composure failed. The next auto-quip never made it to her lips and instead she choked, eyes watering. For some reason she still felt a hot wave of shame at the thought someone might see her cry—even if that someone was this big, metal… something.

"Speak, human," it rolled its eyes, one set of claws digging into the concrete in impatience, "What's wrong with you?"

There was no stemming the waterfall of tears at this point. Alexis sank to her knees, face tucked to the side and nuzzled into her jacket collar, hands trying desperately to hide her reddened face. Of course, she couldn't see the creature's reaction, but at the sudden onset of sobbing it jolted, brows twisted in panic and confusion.

"Wh-what?" Alexis flinched at the sound of rubble grinding as the thing stood and again at the vibrations of it stepping closer. "Stop making that _noise."_

Of course, its demands were fruitless. Stupid demands to make, really. Made even more so as Alexis picked up the metal straining as it leaned down, and the warm huff of breath that gusted across her back.

"Stop crying!" Its insistent growls came at a more strained tone. Alexis peeked through watering eyes and was stunned to see a spiny kneecap bigger than she was settling against the gravel before her. The segmented digits of taloned hands hovered at her eye level, debating on whether to be turned up, or turned down. " _Stop._ Stop crying, for the love of Primus—" the gravelly voice hitched and cut off, returning after a beat at more of a murmur, "Just stop crying. Stop crying and calm down."

It took several moments of forced stoicism for her to suck in several hasty, deep breaths, steeling herself and letting her tears drain away into dried, salty streams down her cheeks. For those several moments, the metal monstrosity was hovering overhead, shocking her with its newfound patience. As she looked up with a slight hiccup she caught an obvious hint of anxiety in its expression and air.

"Done?" it said, to which she slowly nodded. With a sigh that ruffled her hair and made her flinch it stood. Alexis eyed its strange feet as it stepped away. It walked on its toes, supported by three struts. The one on its heel reminded her of a shoe's heel… She squinted. Not quite, but close. Weird shape for a foot, all the same.

"Let's try this again," Her gaze snapped back up to its eerie red eyes watching her from across the building. "I will admit by first attempts at communication were… a little aggressive." It seemed to appraise a crumbling concrete block near it before deciding to seat itself on top—its long claws lacing together and settling in the space between its knees, "Would you mind telling me what brings you here?"

"I…" she choked, still not fully back to her stable self. "I don't really have a reason."

"None?" Its brows lowered, clearly suspicious.

"W-well, I did wanna get indoors." She invented, "For shelter, y'know."

"Ah." The glaring red eyes blinked several times, straying across the empty chamber to where it had been slumped when she entered. They flicked quickly back to her, "As am I," it said with a hollowness that made her instantly know the thing was not entirely honest, "I, too, require shelter."

"So what now?" Alexis swallowed quickly, mouth uncomfortably dry despite her exterior boldness, "What are you going to do to me?"

"What am _I_ going to..?" Its brow raised up, its claws unlacing to allow it to run one across its pointed chin, "Your phrasing implies you think I will do something to you."

"You threatened me."

"Idle threats—the byproducts of frustration," it waved a hand, dismissing her worries with a somewhat unpleasant smile. "But in all seriousness, I see no reason to harm you currently. I will do _nothing_ to you."

Her body relaxed visibly, but her mind was still ticking, alerted by the hints of untrustworthiness in the creature's mannerisms. She got to her feet, knees feeling only slightly stronger than pudding as she staggered to the opposite wall. She tucked herself into a corner, hoping that taking up less space lessened her chances of sparking this metallic thing's ire.

"Well then…" the tone the creature had taken now surprised her—awkward and edging closer to genuine, "Since it seems both of us intend on staying in this place, perhaps we should introduce ourselves?" The girl was leery of sharing any personal details with something huge, inhuman, and potentially dangerous, but she shot a curious glance its way. The thing cleared its throat and straightened up.

"I can go first," it offered, smiling in a way that looked more like a tooth-gritting grimace, "You may call me Starscream. I am a Cybertronian, er, a mechanical life form…"

"You're a robot?" She blinked, reappraising the thing's appearance for what she'd missed. Starscream held back a sneer poorly, a mouthplate showing a sliver of his denta for a moment.

" _Mechanical life form_ is more accurate, but sure."

"What kind of a name is 'Starscream'?"

It—or, rather, he—seemed to glare at her, alarmed that _this_ was her question.

"A noble one, that's what." Alexis caught a hint of a pout on his face a moment before the giant mech countered with a sickly sweetness, "I suppose you think yours is better?"

"Yep," she huffed. "But I don't think I should tell you my name. I don't trust you."

"Come now. I told you mine already." The mech blinked rapidly, eyes wide and cheated. "Name and nature is all I divulged. I know already you are a human—so tell me what you name is!"

At the height of his order he raised one talon, and while it was probably an unconscious gesture it frightened her the same as a threat.

"A-Alexis."

"Come again?"

"My name is Alexis." She curled her knees tighter to her, hot and oppressed and uncomfortable as hell, "There, are you happy?"

"No, I am not." He watched her a moment, servos tensed. "Please do not start that crying again."

"You're a jerk."

Starscream's mouthplates twisted up strangely, helm pulling back a bit as if he'd been struck. Expecting a snarky response, she closed her eyes and tried to tune out. She didn't need anyone else's bullshit and bad-mouthing—least of all that from a giant metal alien that she was still having a hard time accepting _existed._

"Hmmf." The mech grunted, thoughtfully, which the girl took to mean he hadn't had a cruel enough comeback and was responding for the sake of it. "Well, there are worse things to be. Given my current state, yes, your assessment is very accurate."

Quiet descended on the skeletal building, interrupted at first by just the strange, low huffing of the huge mech breathing and a few faint liquid noises. A steady pattering picked up and built until it drowned out those sounds; it was raining.

"Hmmm," Starscream hummed again, drawing Alexis's attention. "Seems you were lucky to have found this shelter."

"I wouldn't say that."

"Come on, I _am_ trying here," he rolled his eyes, posture slumping with a harse metal shifting. "You would be in poor humor too if you had gone a week without a good refueling."

"Er… refueling."

"I am _hungry_." He clarified, growling with a deepened intensity. "Extremely hungry."

"I-I see…" Alexis kept her eyes on the giant, not eager to know what qualified as "food" to this mechanical life form, but fearing that human beings were possibly on the list. She hugged her legs tighter. "Must be pretty bad."

"It's exhausting," his brows furrowed, completely missing the nervousness in her voice.

"The _worst_ part is that I know where a sizable energon store is," Alexis jolted, not expecting his rant to continue. And was it ever a rant—"It's practically under out feet at this very moment! I can't risk breaking through to access it either—I would end up destroying it."

"And the only entrance to this store is so _small_ , since it was you organics that—"

Starscream's optics widened, something clicking together even in his energon-starved mind. Alexis bit her lip at the mech's sudden silence, eying him stroking the tip of his chin and the small beard-like spike attached to it.

"I really can be quite the fool," he said with a chuckle. To the girl's horror he turned his head back to her wearing a wide, devious grin. "The answer to my problem has walked right in on me."

Alexis pushed herself upright against the wall behind her, eyes wide but too alerted to danger for tears. Starscream had also stood, striding towards her with a much springier gait. Her gut screamed at her to run, but she knew she had nowhere to go. One step of his was thirty of hers. He would catch her.

The mech slowed to a stop close by, peering down at her pressing herself back against the concrete. His optics shone with giddiness.

" _Alexis!"_ He practically chirped her name, head tilted gleefully as he watched her, "No need to cringe like that. I only have need of your help with one tiny thing."

She shut her eyes as he stooped, praying he would at the very least end her quick—if that was indeed what he wanted.

The flat edge of a claw patted her head. Almost gently. Her eyes shot open, already full of confusion.

"I assure you," he grinned, amused by her perplexed expression, "if you retrieve some energon for me we will have a _much_ better time of it."

"Energon..?" She squeaked, recovering the nerves to reach up and shove his uncomfortably heavy digit away.

"Yes, the most essential and basic fuel of Cybertronians," he explained, his expression and tone borderline-amiable, "Our most desirable source of energy and growth."

"Giant robot chow?"

"…Sure." He shrugged, "Call it what you like, so long as you get some for me."

"And why should I do that?" She frowned, "Pissy attitude or not, I'm not fetching this stuff for you for nothing."

Starscream's eyebrows and wings twitched. The girl was sure she'd just aggravated the moody temper once again, but to her relief his servos relaxed and his optics half-lidded in musing.

"Are you _bargaining_ with me?" he chuckled, chestplate puffed out slightly.

Alexis simply nodded, unable to tell if he was holding back outrage and offense of was simply toying with the idea of obliging her out of whim.

"Very well," the plating on his legs and hindquarters clanked and ground against the floor as he sat, small chunks of rubble that happened to be under him being crushed to sandy dust. "Only seems fair. You get me what I need, and I get you what you need." He offered a talon, despite it being bigger than her, "So, what do _you_ need?"

"Hmm," There were plenty of things she needed about now, and none of them seemed like things a huge alien robot could bring her. A stable household, a sober family, or perhaps some emotional security. But then, it was probably best to ask for something relatively paltry, since she doubted he would follow through with the trade anyways. "Probably the same thing as you: Something to eat."

"Err…" Contrary to Alexis's thoughts this seemed a tall order for Starscream, "I will need more specifics on that. I'm not very familiar with organic, er, fuels?"

"Well, a double cheeseburger with some fries sounds nice about now," she gave a snorty laugh, "Shouldn't be hard to find that. Just any fast-food joint."

"You want me to steal a meal for you." The mech's optics lit up in a teasing grin as the human huffed further.

"I mean, I wouldn't if I had money."

"I'm _joking_ , lighten up," his grin broadened, "Either way, you will get your cheeseburger."

" _Double_ cheeseburger."

"Yes, of course."

"With extra onions. And _jeee_ -zus, make sure they don't put mayo on it. So gross."

"Y-yes, I'll try to remember that."

"French fries, too. It's way better with French fries." Alexis smirked, stunned by how much her demands were affecting the haughty mech. That mech raised a single brow.

"Getting pushy, are we?" he snickered, "Just remember, you still will owe me that energon after all this."

"Fine." She shrugged, her smirk falling, "It's what I signed up for." She wished for a moment she were tall enough to slap the smug look off his jerk face. Oh well—such is life; some jerks it does not pay to slap.


	2. Chapter 2

The Pacts of Runaways

[Content: Primeverse, References to abuse, Neutral Starscream, References to (robotic) blood, sassy teenager]

Chapter 2:

As the mech stood and turned towards the door and sheeting rain she had that urge to bring out the slaps again.

"Hey," she pouted, "If you want me to go out to this energon hole _now_ you're the one who's pushing it."

He turned, striking her with a look over his shoulders of genuine surprise.

"What?" he growled, brows quickly lowering and covering up any confusion with a red glower, "You think I'd force you to work in such conditions?"

"Well, excuse me for not knowing where the hell you were going." She matched his sour expression, giving her hair a sulky flip.

"I come and go as I please," he snorted. "And as you are unfit to be outside in a bit of water, I was meaning to go and fulfill my end of the deal."

"But—" Alexis eyed the gray, constant sheet, ear tuned to the heavy drum of the fat droplets. She looked back to him. "But it's raining _hard._ Doesn't it bother you?"

"Hmm," Starscream tilted his head, talons slipping up and picking at a place on his plated neck tubing. "I actually quite like it. That, and there are not any proper cleaning facilities here."

As an impromptu shower seemed to be what the mech really wanted Alexis returned to sitting; she knew it was probably a conceit to believe this creature—or robot—or creature-robot was ever thinking of any but himself. Though with a little luck his selfishness would result in her acquiring fast food to survive on for the next day or so.

Watching the silvery being step out into the torrent and immediately be covered in rivulets of water made her wince. Maybe his metallic body wasn't harmed by all the dampness, but a soggy burger was no joke. A soggy box of fries was a tragedy.

Starscream was not thinking that far ahead. The deluge had immediately drenched him, and though having to walk was irritating the earthly grit being rinsed from his greaves and seams was refreshing enough to put a little wiggle back into his wings.

The first thing he needed was to find human habitation, where the "fast food joints" were and where he would be able to snatch the needed organic swill. With a rumble of satisfaction, he noted the weather and approaching darkness decreasing visibility, only a few blurry lights from the edges of a town showing through. It would be in and out fast, with only a slim chance of annoying witnesses. Not that they could really do anything about his presence.

The few townsfolk that happened to be out that evening missed the giant mech stalking through the streets, instead squinting through the dirty water rushing down their windshields and concentrating on getting home. His goal was a buzzy, neon sign in the shape of a dodgy patty and two buns. The word "BURGER" cried out desperately below, the characters Starscream recognized from his time picking up human languages. The dingy building this sign advertised was shorter than the mech; he leaned against it, arm slung onto the roof like a high countertop as he pondered how to go about this mission.

"Suppose I could tear a hole in the wall somewhere…" he shrugged, but immediately frowned. Probably not—in the case that "burgers" and "fries" were fragile substances. In any case, jabbing an arm through a building left a mark, a mark that could be tracked by those who knew what sort of creature left it.

It was then that a strange, backlit box attracted his idle optics; he crouched and studied the foggy images and tiny text printed on its front panel.

A harsh, electronic buzz gave him a start and he jerked his head towards a crackling speaker.

"Welcome to Knockout Burger, where every patty is a knock out." The drained voice, filtered through an intense garbling of static, greeted him. "May I take your order?"

"Yes…" The mech nodded slowly, stunned for a moment that anything would be asking him for orders in his current state. Confusing, but oddly gratifying. "I would like a double cheeseburger. Extra onions, uh, no mayo…"

He paused in his choppy recollection, clicking his claws together.

"If you put mayo on I will kill you," he lowered his tone to a growl. It was such a paltry satisfaction, threatening this automated box thing—but damn it did feel good. A fierce smirk tugged at his mouthplates, " _Slowly…_ "

Whether the human operating the drive-thru though it was a joke of not (or if they were now silent and wondering who in hell was that insistent about mayonnaise) was blown over as Starscream continued.

"Uhh… French fries…" His talong roughly tapped at a small area of images focused on deep-fried forms of spud. He grinned, amused by one image in particular, "Make 'em the curly ones—I love the curly ones!" His claw rapped harder on the image, knocking out a few bulbs and causing half of the fries section of the board to go dark. "And nothing— _nothing_ —that says 'mega' on it."

His grin spread at that. Not even oblong, weirdly greasy humans' fuel stuff was low enough to deserve half of that one's name.

"Thank you," he purred, now amusing himself by playing with a flapping flag attached to the side of the box, batting it with one digit (and ending up shredding the lettering for whatever fast food junk it was advertising).

"Thank you, Sir, please drive forward." Apparently, such behavior didn't much faze the one on the drive-thru shift that night. Their voice's tiredness had remained unchanged, death threat and strangeness ignored.

"Drive?" Starscream muttered as he stood up. After a swift scan of the building he picked out a solitary window with a small awning overhead. "Ah… this must be where the goods come out."

The rain had perhaps dulled Starscream's own senses without him knowing or wanting to admit it, for when he stooped to peer into the window after some auto-dispensed grub he startled. An equally startled human boy's face had been the first thing he'd locked optics with.

"What!" the staggered mech hissed sharply. He generally did not care whether or not his presence and true form were witnessed by random fleshlings, but in this case it was a bit different. He also generally did not bother to interact when seen, having nothing to do with the organic specie at all.

And with another harsh hiss and a blink he realized this encounter was worse: He recognized the teen within the window.

" _Jack Darby?"_

The kid cringed, less impressed or frightened than the typical witness to giant alien robots, but alarmed at seeing the former main Decepticon Commander poking helm and talons into his dinky little drive-thru pickup window.

Had he not been concerned that he was alone, in a paper hat, confronted with _Starscream_ of all 'Cons, he might have giggled hysterically.

But this was _freaking Starscream_. Without Arcee, Bulk, Bee or even a ticked-off Ratchet around. And he was uncomfortably aware of his stupid paper hat…

"Umm…" Jack scratched his neck, beginning to slowly back away towards the door to the main room of the restaurant. "I'm gonna try not to question what you're doing here."

"Probably for the best, fleshling," Starscream snapped as he came back out of his daze. One sharp talon tip hooked under the plastic windowguard and forced it further open.

"Whoa, easy!" Jack held up his hands, hoping his mic wasn't being recorded to be overheard by a very confused manager. "There's no need to get violent."

"That depends on your conduct, human," the mech growled softly as he got back into his own. The talon lingered in the air a few feet away from Jack's chest before settling against the sill. "And how quickly and competently you can fulfill my demands."

"Okay, okay. So, what exactly are your demands?" Jack's eyes darted to the drawer where his cellphone was hidden, Autobot HQ on speed dial. He could probably distract Starscream somehow, and once he did make a grab for it. The Seeker had just a tiny window to reach in after him, and alone he wouldn't stick around if he knew protective Autobots were about to be storming through a Groundbridge at him.

With an exasperated snarl the threatening talon retreated to allow it's owner's pointed face to bury itself in his servo.

"Does your order-receiving box… thing not even function?"

"You—" The kid had a dizzied look at the realization. _That was_ you _?!_ he wanted to say, but considering the circumstances were dicey and the mech even dicier he opted for an alternate version: "You wanted that order...?"

"Don't give me that look," he snorted, optics narrowing into menacing slits. "I have my reasons. Now, the stuff."

Jack eyed the extended talons, wincing as they squeezed through the window and came uncomfortably close to jabbing him.

"I'm going to just assume you're not going to pay for this."

"No. Why should I?" Starscream's snarl was complimented with a harsh smirk, "Now, do you wish to give me what I asked for with no trouble, or would you like for my left digital servos to be introduced to your squishy, weak chest cavity?"

"S-sure…" Jack's mouth was drawn back in a wide line as he realized he'd been trapped in a little corner, unable to comply, "You, uh, need to give me room to grab the stuff, you know."

The claws retreated.

Aware of the fierce red glow of impatient optics on his back, Jack scooped curly fries from a fryer basket and tried not to sweat. Starscream made small noises of disgust as he watched the process of two hot patties slapping together with melting cheese and onions. In a few moments of paper crinkling, Jack turned back to the window with a grease-spotted bag that the mech eyed with curiously combined expressions of… covetousness and general gross-out.

"Good. I will take that." Two claws snatched the small package away, causing the teen to jump back. "Ah, yes, and I was never here. Understood?"

"Got it." Jack nodded, knowing saying otherwise would win him a free kidney removal. Of course, this would make for something interesting and strange to relay to Arcee later. And give the Autobots an updated "last known location" for the ex-Con, in case he got up to even more misbehavior.

But Starscream further confused the teen with his last actions before stalking off into the blinding rain; he tucked the fast food bundle into his palm, shielding it from the rainwater.

As the sinister, spiky form vanished Jack felt as if he'd dodged a bullet. Now another tough task lay ahead—explaining things to the boss. He squinted and slumped on the counter to settle the shakes; "robbed at machete-point by a crazy drifter" seemed pretty accurate a story. He only needed to leave out the detail of the crazy drifter being an alien robot to sound passable.

And to think, mom had said service jobs weren't _that_ bad.

The rain had slackened a bit during Alexis's long wait in the construction block, the noise now a gentle, soothing patter. It was almost full dark now. And while this Starscream robot was away, she had decided to snoop a bit.

With her keychain penlight she traced the walls of the edifice, hoping to stumble across anything that was the tempermental alien's possession. She found next to nothing: It was clear he had removed and rearranged some of the concrete slabs and pieces from the scuffs on the floor, but other than that the only things she encountered was the bizarre liquid.

She'd turned the light off, giving up, when the faint glow from above caught her attention. A few inches over her head, right where the mech's back had been set against the wall, to the right side. It was sticky, a congealed bluish smear. Alexis recoiled a hand back at the tackiness; if it had been on the floor she wouldn't dare touch it for fear of what it was, but on the wall it looked, felt, and reacted like drying blood.

Now, staring up at the faint cyan luminance, she had worries about radioactivity. Maybe this robot was also the source of those rumors? Hopefully this light was just light—nothing pinging off and promising to give her cancer later.

" _Alexis_ ," she jumped at the booming voice echoing in the chamber. Whirling, she spotted Starscream peeking in, rainwater still dripping from his armor plating, red optics not yet focused on where she stood and seeking her out in broad, sweeping glances.

"Sir, yes Sir!" she stepped forward with a limp and mocking salute. As his stern faceplates turned to her she enough she caught a hiding glimmer of amusement.

"Ah, that's where you got to," he stepped inside a short ways. The paired wings gave a rapid flutter and shook a fine mist of water off; Alexis flinched and staggered back as his head followed suit and sent the spray almost onto her. He grunted, seemingly satisfied with this, and stepped further in, "For a moment there I had thought you had taken the opportunity to run off."

" _Please_ , I'd get soaked and freeze to death even in this." She huffed, scurrying to put a hunk of broken cement slab between him and her (in case he suddenly felt the need to dry off a bit more). She looked him over; she couldn't tell if he was carrying anything yet—though maybe he had it stored away in a hidden compartment.

As he returned to his slumped position against the wall Alexis had found the blue blood on he seemed to catch on to her expectant stare.

"You want your _chow_ , hm?"

She nodded, biting her lip to hold in the curses she wanted to fling. His slight grin looked positively evil to her, lit only by the ruddy light of his own eyes. His left hand opened, revealing a still-dry baggie of drive-thru takeout tucked underneath his thumb.

He had almost extended his arm to drop the bundle into Alexis's waiting grasp when he pulled it back up out of reach.

"So you would like this carbon-based garbage?" his sadistic tone filled the firl with boiling anger. She glared, not giving up on her reaching gestures. "Seems like some vile stuff to _me_ , but I'm no fleshling…"

"And I went to _such_ trouble for it, so I hope you appreciate this." He dangled it lower, still a few inches too far for her to grab away from him.

"I _would_ , if you'd actually give it to me," she ground through her clenched teeth. The red optics widened.

Starscream chuckled. Finally, he let the package drop, and the angry teen clutched it tightly as she backed to the furthest corner from the teasing mech as she could.

"Don't take any scrap, do you?" the mech purred, her warning glare not bothering him in the least. He gave his jaw and beard spike a habitual stroke, reclining against the wall with a slight wince. This day had brought with it some much-needed luck: He was clean, the wounds those damn MECH meatbags had left him with were closing up nicely, he'd verbally overpowered one of the Autobots' annoying human children with no added drama or risk to himself.

And finally, this girl, Alexis, was now in his debt somewhat, obligued to aid him in his quest to restore his energon volume. He smiled to himself, wings shifting outwards. It was as good a reason as any to have a casual fondness for the human. They couldn't _all_ be as barbaric and disgusting as MECH ops., and not every fleshy child was as much a thorn in his side as the Autobots' little "partners".

Partners. The word sunk into his processor. He'd been very lonely, truth be told. Not just during his neutral run across this organic planet, but all through the vicious back-end of this war. Roaming about with no roof or berth to his name, scrounging to live and with no other goal—well, it wasn't all that different from the conflict, was it? For a thousand years it had mostly been splinter groups and loners, fighting each other for supplies like rival bandits. The only mechs left who looked on him with any respect or memory of better times were out there, simply surviving. Just like him, separated by millions of solar-reks, scattered across the universe.

Alexis was glad of the Seeker's silence, only shooting him a few glances between bites of greasy fried food to make sure he was still spacing out. She was beginning to fear he'd hassle her the whole night, taunting her powerless situation just because he could. Now he seemed able to ignore her completely, even the sounds of her peeling the last stuck-on bits of cheese from the burger wrapper and greedily devouring them too.

Starscream's attention was caught by the arc of the wrapper, bag, box and all that she'd crumpled up and tossed into a random corner. He eyed it, grunted, and turned to her.

"You're quick." His expression was deadpan; it was worrying. Starscream's thoughts were still centered on the unwilling solitary nature of things; his optics flicked over her posture—knees hugged protectively to her chest, defensive scowl plastered on to disguise any fear—and he loosened.

"Must have been running on empty, eh?" He successfully _smiled_ rather than smirked, voice low and tired. Talons tapped against his leg plating, never settling on one rhythm but shifting between several before giving up. "Well, that we have in common."

"I know, I know," the fact Alexis was agitated with the banter was as obvious as Starscream's swooping eyebrows. "I owe you a bunch of enerjins or whatever it's called. I would really rather not do it in the rain, though."

The mech's brows lowered over widened optics. At her last huff he growled low in his throat and shifted his weight. So much for some easy and convenient companionship; her fear had given way to protective snappishness, making it impossible to expect an accommodating response. What luck that he had red optics that covered up any signs of flushed faceplates. He hated apologizing. The worse things had gotten, the more apologies he had to craft… though most he'd avoided saying, and others he refused to think on out of sheer principle.

Such was the nature of war. He pushed it out of his mind.

"Oh come on, now." He muttered, wincing at the split in his lower back plating giving him an odd twinge. "What did I say before? You fleshlings are not fit to work in this weather, so that can _wait_ until the conditions are mild enough for you." He laid the palm of one servo on helm, obscuring the base of his red crest. "When I agreed to your little exchange, I expected an _exchange._ An _agreement_. Meaning I want to hear less of these vulgar assumptions of yours."

Alexis snorted.

"I'm not completely wrong—you obviously don't think highly of humans."

"And should I?" Starscream let out a sarcastic laugh. He eyed her tensing up as he sat up straighter, his claws digging into the concrete slab beside him. "After what I've been through, should I really respect you fleshbags so much?"

"Come here." Alexis was stunned and uneasy as the giant shifted tone and beckoned her over.

"…Why?" She backed up rather than stepped forward, clutching the keychain light as if it were any defense, "Can't we just keep talking from where we are?"

"Yes, but," he raised a talon, beckoning once again, "I wish to show you something."

With a sigh Alexis stood. Since refusing his orders would only make this robot more insufferable she stepped over lightly, nervously waiting to the side of his immense legs for what he'd show her. And regardless of anything else, she was curious.

"Stand there. There, just there." She had climbed atop the raised concrete slab beside him, moving quickly to hasten things. With a hissing breath he turned in place until she was faced with his back.

"Look," the girl was directed to a spot on the lower, right-hand side of the main armor plate by a pointing talon. Stepping closer she was met with a faint glow—cyan blue—that outlined a deep split.

"Are you bleeding..?" Her eyes widened, knowing the answer before she even asked. The blue smear—it had been blood… or "blood", but same difference.

"That is where they cut me open," Stascream's tone was disturbingly soft, mostly for his own benefit. He did not want another emotional fit from this. "And by 'they', I mean humans."

"I gave these particular fleshlings the benefit of the doubt. They had resources; I was desperate. I gave them information and even helped in their dirty work. And how did they return the favor? Provided me with energon? Watched my back?"

Alexis took a step back, snuffing out the brief surge of sympathy with worry that 'Scream was losing it. The concrete block echoed with his harsh cackle.

" _That_ is how they 'watched my back'!" He continued to snicker to himself, shaking his head as he came back down from raving, "So, understand this… No, I do not think highly of your kind. They are just as much scum as my own kind. I regard _both_ kinds with equal dislike and suspicion. From experience."

Alexis had backed away fully now. Not out of squeamishness—the wound wasn't that bad, even from the perspective of a being who had energon for blood, tubing, plates and servo articulators for gore. His dark ramblings had come too close for comfort to her own thoughts.

Starscream peered over his shoulder, concerned by the silence from the girl.

"Just so you know, the only reason I bother trusting you to honor your end of this bargain is that I know you are helpless." He gave a dry laugh; this was a poor excuse for reassurance and he knew it. He wasn't sure why he even cared at this low point. "Any more than helpless is too much."

"You're paranoid." She choked on the words. "Helpless" was right, as was "paranoid", and despite knowing it was a critical-sounding accusation it had spilled out anyways.

"Yes."

"Because people suck." Starscream's audios pricked up; there was something very accepting about her tone.

"Indeed."

A sullen air enveloped the two, with Alexis silently watching the pulse of brightness from his injury and Starscream blankly observing the dark walls, a strange calm coming over him as he mulled over the girl's words.

 _Because people suck._ Sad, but amusingly true. Still benefitted from the inclusion of the word "most" to make it perfect (he'd never been a believer in absolutist morality, even when he had… mostly adhered to his sense of morality).

He peered back again to see her bowed head. Primus, he hoped she wasn't about to let loose with those tears again.

"You may return to your spot, if you wish."

Alexis took up the offer, scooting off the edge of the slab and scuttling back to the furthest corner. On hearing her remove herself Starscream groaned and laid himself down, shoulders, neck, and helm resting against the concrete block like an incredibly rough pillow.

"So I guess this is an 'until tomorrow'?" Alexis sniffled, her throat clogged. The pessimistic exchange had left her antsy and unable to even think of sleep. As uneasy as she was about the mech she found him pitiable—relatable. They'd both come to the same sad conclusions about the world so easily.

"Mm." His response only irked her. Before she knew what she was doing words began pouring out, and by the time she realized what she was saying she no longer cared to stop herself.

"You know, I don't really think people are naturally bad," she sighed. "It's just that there are so many bad things out there, and people get tired or forget when others are relying on them… and they just stop trying."

"I don't guess you know what alcohol is." She shrugged, slumping back against the cool wall.

"I do," His voice was low and raspy. "Though I assume you mean the type imbibed by humans as a recreational drug."

"Mhm." Alexis stared at the back of his head, not really looking at him. "Well, my dad likes the stuff. He likes it so much he forgot about other stuff he's supposed to be paying attention to. Like his job." She slumped against concrete, letting her face smush against the cold stony surface, "And his wife. And his kids. And having a house that isn't covered in cigarette butts and nasty dirty laundry and empty beer cans. He's not _evil_ , exactly. He just forgot to care. I love him. I hate him."

"And… you're asleep, aren't you? I'm just talking to a wall now." The girl scoffed. There was no reddish light emanating from the mech's eyes anymore, which meant the chamber's darkness had increased tenfold. "Figures."

Starscream's internal systems gave a deep thrumming—snore-like, or close enough to pass for snoring. He held off on any response. Too tired; after tomorrow, there would no longer be a point in ingratiating himself to the fleshling anyhow. He'd have energon back up to normal levels and he'd be able to continue on his way. He told himself there was no need to get attached, that she'd cease being useful to him after tomorrow.

Besides, the life problems of a helpless organic creature had never seemed more familiar and depressing. He relaxed as she fell quiet and fitfully fell asleep first.


	3. Chapter 3

The Pacts of Runaways

[Content: Primeverse, References to abuse, Neutral Starscream, overenergizing/drunken bot, sassy teenager]

Chapter 3:

It took two minutes to remember the two important things in her present life.

One, that she was still hunkering in a half-built concrete husk in the company of an inclement-tempered robot.

Two, that it was never a good idea to sleep sitting up against solid rock. She unstuck her hair from the back of her twinging neck and took in the place as a blue-grey light filtered in. The inclement-tempered robot was exactly as she'd left him—though the dull thrumming had quieted into a faint hiss with a grumbling tail-end. Still slumped across half the floor space, wings tucked under and helm lolling sideways against a massive slab. The stuff was probably more comfortable to sleep on by someone made of metal. Or maybe not. Currently in a state of cracking her stiff shoulders, she found the idea of _concrete_ being good for anything detestable.

Alexis approached the unconscious giant, unsure of how close she could get. Or _should get._ Or of how vigorously, if at all, she could attempt to bring him around. The note they'd left off on had been questionable and frightening. She sucked in a breath and took a chance.

"Hey," she'd sidled up to the edge of a wingtip, sticking out from underneath the plated torso and close enough to ground level to nudge at with her shoe, "Hey. Starscream. _Hey,_ wake up."

The ventilation hiss morphed back into a deep rumble, but otherwise nothing. A rubber-toed sneaker to the wing was just not going to be enough.

Her scowl grew determined and she hooked her heel into one of the sweeping outer chest plates. While not athletic, she was spry enough to clamber up the convex torso easily. So many handholds could be made of the interlocking armor pieces and protective spines that she hardly noticed the height she'd achieved.

She stood on the chestplate's center and huffed. He was reminding her more and more of a human—a particularly heavy sleeper, apparently. Even as she stamped against a worn reddish insignia and created resonant metal _clanks_ he stayed slumped, mouthplates slightly open and a thin trail of… well, some clear, oily-looking saliva analogue dripping out. She grimaced; well, if these robots could _bleed_ , then there was no reason to assume they couldn't also drool all over themselves.

"Yo—you have gross goo _all_ over your face." She raised her voice as she leaned in a little more. "If I had a camera I bet you'd wake up quicker."

Something seemed to work with that. Something about implications of later embarrassment. Starscream shifted his legs, groaned, and sucked in a deep air cycle that puffed out his chestplates. With a soft curse, Alexis sat abruptly and braced herself with both arms until he'd allowed the air to escape.

"Human," the voice he started with today was dangerously calm and quiet, but realistically she figured he was just groggy. He'd not unshuttered his optics just yet but a faint redness had sprung to life underneath.

"Giant mecha," she smiled a false, dumb smile. She sounded equally tired.

To her amazement, the corners of his mouthplates turned up in a badly-hidden chuckle.

"Why are you crawling around on me like some kind of parasite?"

"To rouse you from your coma-like slumber." She idly traced the partly worn-off markings she was seated on. "And to tell you that you've got a river of drool going down your face."

At this his optics cracked open and inspected the trail. The back of his servo took care of it in a clumsy sweep. One optic closed again as he squinted at her. She'd unknowingly planted her rear firmly over the old Decepticon decal, a detail he knew Megatron would have been cross over. The girl was puzzled at his bleary grin.

"How nice of you," he murmured, which melded into a yawn. "You are rested, I hope?"

"Ech." Alexis twisted her neck about, cringing, "Kinda."

"Aw." Starscream no longer seemed all that worried about the human perching on him, and so sat up in slow, ginger movements. The concrete was equally rough on mechanical joints…

Alexis yelped and grabbed for handholds unsuccessfully. The mech chuckled a bit more nastily as he watched her slip down onto his abdomen and struggle upright again.

"Can you… maybe wait for me to get down before dumping me on my butt?!"

"Oh, easy." His glossa click would have seemed biting had it not been for the offered hand. "It's not as if I _threw_ you off. You were the one who decided to go climbing," he smirked.

"Sure, sure it's all my fault," Alexis brushed herself off and glared at the metallic palm, held at easy stepping distance. She scrambled on, eyeing the talons as they curled over slightly but ultimately having her subconscious fears dashed. She was set down onto her feet nearby.

"No fault at all—an accident," Starscream shook his head. His backplates throbbed at the thought of rising for another day. They'd done that for the past three days, the painful scar from hasty surgery compounded by energon deficiency. Now he found he could only force himself upright by wrapping his servos around one of the building's support pillars and heaving himself to his peds.

His exhausted puffing drew an odd look from the teen, which he handwaved with a weak chuckle.

"Well then," he coughed, straightening in a forceful effort. "If it's all the same to you I would like to show you where the energon is."

Alexis continued to stare at the mech, but nodded. She's seen her father pull off behavior like this; it was usually after a particularly bad night, and he'd wear the reddest eyebags as he stilted about, struggling to function. Since Scream had mentioned starvation she supposed that was the explanation, but the comparison was worrying. Dad had been really out of it then. What was she supposed to do if this robot keeled right over on her?

The Seeker's optics shuttered rapidly as he stepped into daylight—it was still dim by human standards, but he still needed to pause to allow the glowing coals to reduce and adjust. He peered down to his side and was relieved to see the human striding up to join him. For some reason.

The mech led Alexis in silence over several partially-constructed retaining walls, stopping on the edge of a shallow concrete pit littered with sandhills, trash, and particularly hardy little weeds.

Just as Alexis was contemplating how on Earth to follow Starscream down the fifteen-foot drop huge metal fingers slid around her sides and gripped her torso. She squeaked, grasped at the nearest talon with both hands, and—once lifted up-shot a hasty glare in the direction of the giant's face.

"What?" Starscream shrugged, tilting his head to eye the disgruntled teen, "Is this not easier?"

"W-well, maybe, but," she cast a doubtful look to the keen-edged digits currently wrapped around her. "I'm _very_ worried you're gonna muscle spasm and slice me in half, or something..."

Starscream stepped down the pit's edge, wagging a clawed finger on his free servo as he did so.

"First, I cannot suffer from a muscle spasm. I have no muscles."

"And second, at your size it would take a tremendous force for such a comparatively large edge to actually cut you." He stooped and released her, the topic at hand making him purposefully gentle on the dismount.

"But I bet it'd still hurt." She huffed.

"True," the mech smiled and proudly pricked up his wings, "But I have _fantastic_ motor sensitivity, so such an accident is very unlikely." He finished with an additional wriggle of his talons.

"Uh-huh. Good for you." Before following further she felt her ribs and stomach for any lacerations, just in case. "Just warn me next time you get grabby."

If the jet mech was paying attention to her last request he paid it no mind, instead wedging his freed claws beneath the edge of a large metal slab. With a heave the rusty hinge groaned open and a cold shaft opened in the earth below.

With an extra grunt he made certain the heavily-rusted hatch had been shoved as far open as it would go (and would stay open). Again Alexis noted his vents puffing but decided not to draw attention to it.

"Now," Starscream seated himself by the dark pit, turning his head to her and hunching lower, "I know I mentioned this stockpile when we first came into this arrangement, but there are some additional details you should know before… well, diving in."

"Okay. Fill me in." Finding it hard to decide what to do with her arms she clutched at her elbows and stared into the darkness. The edges of a metal utility ladder poked out of the shadows. It looked much more foreboding and involved than a simple hole in the ground.

"I know for certain there are containers of _liquid_ energon inside this sublevel, which are what I need you to retrieve for me…" Starscream followed Alexis's line of sight at a glance, frowning and furrowing his brows at her worried expression. "But I must warn you that there may also be crystalline energon stored in there. Whatever you do, do _not_ touch it."

"…What does it look like?" Alexis went ahead with her second query, as she was certain the impatient and scowling mech would not answer her first one of "why?".

Starscream dug several shallow furrows in the chipped concrete, shaking his head and growling.

"Just don't go near anything remotely crystal-like. The stuff is volatile. A slight bump or a sudden change in temperature is often enough to set it off."

"Exploding death crystals," Alexis pursed her lips, "Great."

"Most everything else in there should be benign. You shouldn't have any trouble but if you do I will talk you through it." It was far too tense a moment to smile, but Starscream's wings fluttered briefly and his voice rasped in a confounding tone of kindness, "Be careful."

"I will," she stared at him a moment. It was a moment she needed to let the sincerity sink in. Somehow the mech's concern was making her more uneasy—gruff or no, this was real and from a creature who'd not given her much reason to think he gave a damn thus far.

* * *

Dark. Dark as hell (her vision of it, that is). Dark as the annoying crime dramas mom used to love watching. She just had to slow her hands and feet, feel downwards, and pray she was lined up to grasp the next rung of the steel ladder. It was cold, echoey metal all around, repeating the whispers of her own breath to her, making it sound as if several Alexises were dropping into the unknown.

A few meters lower. Suddenly the ladder was a dim but visible outline. Light from somewhere and not above her. Light from _below_. A faint overlay of pale blue, almost like a TV screen had been left on in a blackened room. Her feet met a textured metal platform and she paused to get her bearings.

It would have seemed an awesome and transfixing beauty had she not still heard the echoes of Starscream's warning lingering in her mind. The girl stood on a steel grate platform next to some stairs leading down to the floor. From up here she could see that the chamber was a half-cylinder—a bunker sunk into the earth, wide enough for a pair of tanks to drive through side-to-side and tall enough for the jet mech to have joined her (had there been a large enough entrance). The blue light drew her down the clanking staircase—there were heavily-reinforced shelving spaces on the opposite side of the chamber, each square pocket filled with what looked like five-gallon jugs of pale cyan-colored liquid light.

Presumably these were the energon containers the robot on the surface craved. Between the raised stair platform and the rows of canisters were two rows of databanks of some sort—a server farm dotted here and there with tiny government-style terminals. To the side a forklift lay dormant, coated in a thin film of dust, and butted up to the wall beneath the staircase was another machine, some sort of heavy engine with a tangled sprawl of chain tracks piled beside it.

It only took a moment for Alexis to figure out the first task she would have to complete.

"Please let you be here somewhere," she muttered, coughing against the clouds of dust she swept off the dash of the abandoned forklift. Not in the ignition, not on the dash itself, but sticking out of the dankest dustpiles on the floor of the machine was the faint shine of a key. " _Yes,_ " even while picking a dead silverfish off the key she grinned to herself.

"Alexis?" Starscream's voice echoed down the ladder shaft, "Have you found it yet?"

"Gimme a minute!" Alexis tried the keys, relieved as the forklift sputtered but came to life. "Well… I can get the stuff _to_ the ladder… no idea how to get it up to you though."

"Is there no vertical tractor or anything of that sort?" he offered. Alexis found the lever combination that set the hulking vehicle into gear and inched it up to the row of canisters.

"If not, you better have a plan B…" the forks slid under the wooden pallet that a set of four of the cylinders were chained to with a heavy _slthunk!_.

"Oh, joy." He did not sound joyful. The teen reversed the lift and gingerly steered the straining old thing around the computers.

As the mech had said there was _something_ at the base of the ladder, though she was unsure how it worked just yet. If it would work. There was a steel square plate with chain loops, and so she set the loaded pallet down on top. The forklift gave a dull wheeze and painfully let her back it away before the engine died altogether with a groan and a smell of burnt oil.

"A-Alexis?!"

"It's alright." She went to the machine at the ladder base, peering up at the pinpoint of surface light and noticing a large shadow blocking out most of it. A shadow with two faint reddish eyes dotting it. "Nothing exploded, just this forklift breaking down."

"Good," he sighed, gruffly. "So, is there a lifter there?"

"There's a something." She pawed the dust off an instruction label, squinting to read it in the dim light, "A _big_ something. Might be a lifter, but it's hard to tell."

"I see the tracks to the side of it… The ones meant to be attached," Starscream grumbled, "Seems someone dismantled it before they last left." There was a faint _ting!_ —the Seeker had slammed his claws down at the concrete, aggravated and taking it out on the ground itself.

Alexis eyed the balled-up chains, their back surfaces equipped with track-hooks like the treads of a tank. It clicked.

"Ah, that's why the ladder is so built. It's built to have these things run up it, powered by the dohickey here," she called up to the dismayed mech: "The chains aren't in bad shape. I could reattach everything if I have a little time."

"You… can?" Scream was surprised. There was a faint metallic tinging again; his claws tapping on the edge of the shaft in thought, "I would not expect a juvenile human to be up to such a thing."

"Me neither," she smirked, finding the topmost link of the lifter's tracks and setting off to attach it to the lowest rung. She knew now the reason for this platform to have a grate in it instead of being solid—she managed to unpin the rusted hooks keeping the grate attached and slid it off.

To say the Seeker was impressed at this revelation was an understatement, but a look at his demeanor might have had an onlooker convinced he was still firmly in a state of frustration and boredom. He'd grown rather good at hiding his true emotions, surviving close quarters with far more bloodthirsty mechs than himself by putting on a thin film of anger and threat. He faintly wished to drop it now, but the tension kept it an unwelcome reflex.

There was one more issue beyond the lazy state the equipment had been left in. As the teen girl pressed what had to be the starter switch for the lifting machine a descending hum sounded from the thing and the server banks. A tiny screen read out an error code:

 ***Insuf. power—auto shut-down or recharge**

Alexis frowned. Of _course_ the main power would be cut off. She scampered to the terminal closest to the tractor, following a line of shielded cables there. The screen blipped and shakily turned on, drawing from the reserves. Maybe Starscream had expected too much of an ordinary human teen, as most fourteen-year-olds were not proficient in Linux coding. It was lucky for both that she was. Her talent with computers was only half of it. Her intellect pulled most of the weight.

 **:/open databases**

 **:/find aux starter**... She glanced to the number embossed in the side of the lifter, squinting back and forth to be sure she had it. A17753. The computer whirred, hummed, and to her relief a program line appeared. She ran it and the screen blacked out, the low hum transferring to the lifting machine itself. Heavy mechanical huffing, clanking, and chugging as the pallet of blue-lit fluid began crawling skyward. Alexis sighed and took a moment slumped against the databanks just to watch and collect herself. Hooked track over hooked track—the lifter pulling the tracks in link by link and coaxing links from the other end to pop out and latch onto higher and higher rungs. The pallet's wooden frame strained, but held even as the payload elevated above her head.

"Whoof," she heaved out a breath, wanting this work in the dark and dusty place to be over. Whatever dangers Starscream had warned her could be here were nagging at the back of her mind. She wanted out into the sun—the sun had to have been up in full now. There was something clammy about the underground that gave her a constant sense of approaching unease, "C'mon, tractor thingie. We're in business, just hold out to the top of this ladder…"

"Now, what could be taking the human so _long?_ "

Starscream's wings rattled, claws fidgeted against the ground by the darkened pit. Impatient—yes, and then some. He could no longer pretend that was all it was, though, and as the whirr of an engine picked up from the echoing, deep tunnel so too did his brows. Leaning over he was treated to the nearing glow of a pallet full of energon canisters. Alexis was nowhere to be seen, but the mech knew she was climbing after the machine's track as her call reverberated upwards:

"Blue stuff coming up!" She clung to the ladder, stalled behind the slow but stable trundle of the lifting engine. "So you can stop groaning about being hungry soon."

"I was not _groaning_ ," Starscream snorted, squinting down into the darkness with a smirk. "That was my fuel processors trying to fire with nothing in them."

"Sounds pretty much the same to me," she fired back, glib and bored and tired out in the shade of the hulking payload. "And it sounds whiny."

"Indeed."

The lifting engine clunked and groaned as its load achieved the top rung. Starscream's claws made a rough scraping din against the pallet's boards as he grabbed it away from the plate, huffing at the strain of the weight of four kilounit canisters but not caring. His shoulder joints made an audible pop that echoed through his extensive armor as he set them to the side.

Alexis clambered up and squeezed through the tiny gap between metal plate and ladder. It was tough going even for a small girl; eventually she popped up like a champagne cork and groaned.

"Well, how nice of him…" she muttered to herself, taking note of the giant mech's attention to the crate and canisters. There was another of those thick, shimmery lines of drool making its way down the side of his faceplates.

A heavy creak sounded just below her. Instinct told her the plate was slipping off its tracks, and her vision added in that the ladder's supports were ripping loose also. She squeaked, scrambling to get over the top rung.

Even starved he was quick enough: The shriek alerted the bot, and seconds later Alexis peered up to a heavy darkness scooping over her.

The weight had strained the rivets holding the ladder in place, and with a final burst of metal shattering one gave way, then another and another. Tracks, lifting plate, and ladder all clattered down the pit and crashed in an uproar at the bottom.

"Mmrff! Mmrf?"

Starscream turned his clasped servo palms-up before opening his claws. The girl gasped and unflattened herself from the giant's palm, blowing hair from her face and shaking off the dizziness.

"Still have all your limbs?" he leaned down, studying her.

"Yes, thank you," Alexis glared, sitting upright with legs dangling from the side of his hand. "Um, ground level, please?"

"Why?" The mech chuckled, lifting Alexis even higher—level with his face. "Fancy a climb back up that pit wall this time? Or do you not want to return to the shelter?"

"I figured you'd chuck me up there or something."

"Exactly what I'm doing. Hop up," she and her seat were brought closer to his chest, the spar jutting towards his shoulder within reach.

"Huh?" One of her brows raised. Starscream's own lowered as much as his grin broadened.

"Well, I do have to carry these _and_ you," his other claw jiggled two of the blue, glowing prizes. "Unless you think I'm too grimy to ride."

"I would have thought you'd be too _proud_ to ride." She shrugged, taking a solid grip on the spar and shoulder housing just the same. She had to grip harder as his armor shook with laughter.

"You can never be too proud to ride." He rumbled, grasping the energon by its pallet and lifting with a grunt, "besides, you're hardly one to brush off."

"Uh." Alexis clutched at the curved metal under her, casting a puzzled look to the giant's face. "So when did this opinion develop?"

"Somewhat recently." The mech chirped, taking a high step with a slight hop to clear the pit's edge.

 _His mood probably helps_ , she leaned against his neck and watched the aqua-hued energon sloshing with each of his strides. _Hopefully this won't be just his hunger talking._

* * *

If Starscream's hunger talked, it said something far different than praises of young humans.

Alexis had leaned on one elbow, a hand on her mouth and the other braced against her ribs. This was to stop herself from cackling like a drunken hyena at the display of complete unabashed gluttony before her. The third energon container clanked against the concrete as the gorging mech discarded it. Empty—just like the first two—its contents contributing to a ridiculous feature for a mechanical being. The shimmery plating that mimicked a fighter jet's cockpit section was spread out at the seams, lines of red-hued circuitry now visible and putting off vibrant lighting. As well as his abdomen swelling his optics seemed to have brightened and the white-hot pupils were heavily dilated. His talon stretched out for the fourth, wavered, then dropped to the ground in defeat.

Alexis clung to her mouth and sides harder. The newly-refreshed gaze of the Seeker rested on her with a giddy expression.

"What are _you_ looking at?" It was obvious what she was looking at. Slumped and immobile from his binge against the wall he was impossible not to look at. _Somehow_ , he seemed significantly non-threatening like this.

"Oh, nothing," she managed, "I was just wondering how inefficient you Cybertronian guys must be if you need _this much fuel_ in one sitting…"

" _Need?"_ His head lolled back, giggling a moment before a hiccup knocked it back upright, "This, no, this isn't _need_ —this is _greed!"_ His chuckles were interrupted by another loud "hyick!" that knocked his helm back.

"You're not gonna chuck, are you?"

Starscream paused, optics half-shuttered and one talon raised. He flopped it weakly against himself, thumping between chestplates and gut. Alexis winced—

 _ **BRUAAAP!**_ The blast stunned both of them.

"Gee-zus!" The girl startled, her giggling unrestrained as she sat back on the slab of stone, "You feel better now?!"

"Much better," he purred. Pleased as a cat with the entire creamery. He almost seemed drunk… well, she figured he was drunk on relative success or something.

"Not going to chug the last one?" she needled him, to which the mech grinned toothily but shook his head.

"Think I'll save it," he stretched, one servo wandering to his backplates to check on the healing injury. No pain now—the new energy coursing through his chassis was speeding up the self-repair process. "Though you—you…"

He hiccupped, pointing a claw her way. She blinked and twisted her brows.

"You might require some refueling soon, if I know anything about organic life forms."

"Though… daylight and overenergized is a bad time to go foraging for you," he relaxed again, dropping his servo with a clunk. "After dark I'll see what I can find you."

"But you already held up your end." Alexis sat up straighter, fingers tracing the keychain light to avoid fidgeting. Thoughts of home dogged her along with the realization that eventually huddling up in a ruin would lose its charm. Teenage fire was dampening in the tides of maturity. For a fourteen-year-old the water level was high—and the cool-temperedness washing over the angry coals was saying "home is better than homeless".

"This is _beyond_ our deal." Starscream murmured. "This energon is worth so much more than… erm, them… what were those thingies I got you called?"

"Burgers. Fries."

"Yes, yes—those!" His optics slipped shut. "It's no trouble to grab more for you. Only fair."

"That's… that's awfully nice of you."

"Once it's dark," Starscream groaned, stretched his wings wide, and belched again as he settled. Oblivious to his small partner's doubts, he waved a claw and shot her a goofy look, "I will bring you enough of those fun curly fries to bury you! … Or maybe something else. That could get boring after a while."

"Right," she chuckled. Birdsong drifted in, giving her a reason to poke her head out the entrance and absently watch a pair of sparrows bickering. "Just make sure you can walk a straight line first."

Starscream followed her line of sight, dizzily taking in the tiny animals' fluttering antics. After a moment of watching them he smirked, his wings waggling behind him. Contentment wasn't a new feeling, but it had been scarce for centuries. One bird tweeted sharply and cocked their head towards the giant robot before flitting back to its argument.


	4. Chapter 4

The Pacts of Runaways

[Content: Primeverse, References to abuse, Neutral Starscream, cussing of both robots and humans, sassy teenager]

Chapter 4:

* * *

Dull echoes. The shattered lifter engine cooled off quietly where it lay in several pieces, some of which were embedded in the nearest server bank. The destroyed computers ticked softly, electrical trails running through them in their death throes. Abandoned, lifeless place; atmosphere could use some improvement, but at least the remaining energon shone warmly.

There was a dull rumble from the far end of the underground bunker followed by the screech of steel sliding open. The wall seemed to retract, slipping up into itself and revealing a pitch-black passage. Frigid air crept in, killing the warmth of the secret stash and heralding the arrival of something—someone—even more chilling.

Cybertronian for sure—but much smaller than Starscream, with spindly legs arcing over her black exoarmor where wings, winglets, or kibble plates ought to be. Her optics were a shiny but unnatural shade of violet, almost the same ominous shade as the Blood of Unicron. They were sinister even before she froze and narrowed them, mouthplates turning up into an offended sneer as she spied the damages.

"Little vermin returned, did they?" she hissed, pacing over to inspect the broken pieces, flicking metal shards and twisted motherboards over with her thin, spidery extra limbs. Her gaze froze and hardened on the one row of energon-filled crates that was missing a member.

"And they've been stealing from me," she traced the tracks in the dust to the bottom of the emergency exit shaft, thin pinprick of sunlight streaming in and illuminating her horned crown as well as her vengeful thoughts. "Hmmm. Didn't cover your tracks well. Might come back to haunt you, disgusting pest."

* * *

He came around to a low "oo-oo" and rustling against his audio guards. _Pigeon._ He recognized those now immediately. Especially since the little airborne creatures made the odd and frequent habit of perching on his extremities whenever he stayed still.

A weight and sigh on his chestplates had him turn sharply downwards to inspect something that was _not_ a pigeon at all. Still perched on him, though.

"What's the idea?" he rumbled, taking care not to sit up from where he lounged yet. Alexis rolled over onto her back, peering up at the giant's puzzled features. She suppressed a giggle from how odd those features looked while upside down. She looked tired—and quite bored—much like a napper suddenly roused.

"It's really sore sitting on that concrete for so long." She yawned. Starscream blinked, one optic squinting down at the teenager.

"I _know_ ," he growled, a talon shifting over to rub at the armor greaves on his flank. "So… You've decided to just invite yourself up here, hm?"

"I didn't think you'd mind…" Alexis let out a nervous giggle. To be fair, a few hours ago 'Scream was high as a kite and weighted down with five thousand pounds of rich, tasty energon—after he'd passed out he minded very little. "I just wanted a break, you know?"

"Ah," the mech nodded, arching his back slightly in a stretch, servos and plating greaves popping, something deeper in making a cringeworthy grinding noise for half a second. Alexis half-expected him to rise shortly after and had grabbed onto one of his clavicle spars. "It's no matter. I was just wondering why you would choose this spot. Are you a pigeon?" He started to bare his teeth, a talon indicating the healthy, fat birds still cooing from his pauldrons, crown plates, engine cover, etc.

"If the pigeons are anything to go by, you are the best seat in the house." She cracked a grin at his widened optics.

The flurry of startled birds was ushered out by the giant's echoing cackle, "You mean if _you're_ anything to go by." He stroked his beard spike, eying her embarrassed huff with great amusement. "Organics are strange lifeforms, I see."

"What's that look?" He grinned, "Thought it was cozy up here."

"You always have to _tease,_ don't you?"

"It's something to do," his grin shrank into a self-satisfied, crooked smirk. "It's only teasing. If you're keen on climbing on top of me I'm happy with that. Just behave yourself—no sticking hands or objects in my heat vents. It's annoying."

Alexis's eyebrows rose. She turned so that she was seated facing his chin.

"Did I say something funny?"

"No, just unexpected." She had to blink hard. Admitting to liking the company of others was hard for her too. Especially when those feelings came at the risk of exposing her weak points. "I'm glad you're tolerating me when you could have just run me off."

"Nonsense." His brow tipped down into a sharp slant, "And don't get squishy." She fought the urge to laugh a bit; seems Starscream, too, was far too prickly to be so open with basic affection.

"I kinda don't have a choice." She shrugged with a weak wave of her obviously non-robotic arms. Again 'Scream laughed, louder and less snarky.

"Thank Primus you're clever," he chuckled, optics half-shuttering. He looked her over—in detail for the first time since meeting. It had hardly seemed appropriate given the business-nature of things; he'd intentionally averted himself from the natural bonding process, and that had including not bothering to study her appearance in much detail. Why learn a face that will only figure into your plans for a few days, tops? Now he had finally noticed the knees on her jeans were worn thin, her reddish-toned but dark hair scruffy and unkept, face grimed and weary from sleeping practically outside.

"Yecch—eugh!"

She squirmed away in shock at what he'd done next—dabbed the tip of one claw in oral lubricants and started to reach out to de-grime her face.

"Oh, hold still—" He half-snarled, half-grinned as the claw hovered, other servo barring her escape. "You could use a polish."

"I could _not_ use a 'polish'—get your big icky finger away!"

"It's not icky. It's just mech fluid. No worse than water."

"Yeah, maybe! But I just watched you _lick_ your finger to get it," Alexis had scuttled back to the very edge of his chestplate. Swatting kept the teasing talon relatively at bay. "So nope."

"Okay, fine. Be dirty then."

His playful mood faltered instantly at the sound of an approaching motor. Two-wheeler's sort of motor noise. The Seeker jolted upright, the claw he'd previously been using to block the girl's escape snagging her out of midair as she slid off. Her alarmed squeak was cut off, and she squirmed higher in his grip so she could catch her breath.

"What the _hell_ is—"

" _Shhh._ " He hissed, optics wide and caught between a scolding and worried look.

"What the hell is up with you?" She tried again, this time in a sharp whisper. Starscream backed up close to the wall and into the shadows, listening.

The motor approached, seeming to slow at the edge of the abandoned complex before cutting out entirely. His wings tipped up slightly, interest piqued and fears drastically lessened.

Alexis leaned her elbows on the top of the giant mech's clutches, giving him a critical look. She didn't know why he'd suddenly relaxed; couldn't know he'd noticed this motor noise was a bit too genuinely primitive to be who he'd first suspected.

"Someone is here," he finally grumbled, gaze flicking over to her. "Hrmm."

"And you're looking at me like you want something." Alexis rolled her eyes.

"Go see who it is." He set her down on her feet, staying far back and ignoring her incredulous stare.

"Why me?"

"It's a fellow human." He shrugged with a distant look.

"Yeah, well, they could be a psycho!" She growled, rubbing at one temple. "Just because I'm a lil fleshie doesn't mean I know every other human on a first-name basis."

"Well, if they try to harm you, _scream_." He snorted. "And I will _take care_ of it."

"Fine, fine, I'll go stick my neck out…" She gave up. After a good look at the stubborn mech in his defensive position, she knew that he'd be no good to hang around if she continued to argue. He was much less nerve-y than he'd started, but he was still anxious about visitors. He just had to know, and without being spotted. But she could not resist, as she passed back into the daylit desert, shooting a quip back his way. "You _baby."_

He replied with a tense grumble. Neither confirming nor denying her suspicions on his cowardly nature. But she knew.

* * *

The bike rumbled to a stop, the teenaged boy on top of it sticking out a leg as it slowed and making the whole vehicle bounce up. The inanimate machine was not the robot in disguise the hiding Seeker first suspected it to be—this bike was considerably smaller, less sleek, and orange-colored. Even odder—it had a sidecar.

A sidecar with an occupant, who pried the sweaty, poorly-fitting helmet off his curly, dark hair and threw a wince the rider's way.

"You need to work on your deceleration, man."

The taller of them took his own helmet off his blonde head, not having the same sweat or fit issues as his passenger.

"I stop fine!" He pouted, "this is a bike, not a car. The rules are different."

"The shocks are _worse_ , though," The boy inched out of the sidecar, playing up the soreness as if it were crippling pain, "My ass as witness! They're worse."

"Well, maybe bring a pillow or something if you want a ride," the blond reached around and rummaged in a backpack he wore, checking on the crinkling contents which appeared to be mostly bags of chips and other junky snacks. After a moment he tugged the lot of them out inside their own cheap plastic sack and tossed the bundle to the younger kid. "Enh, they're not too broken. She probably won't care anyways."

"How'd you know she'd be here?"

"It's a party spot, Carlos. She'd go here because it's one place her parents aren't going to know to look."

"Rad?"

The two boys turned to look up the hill after the voice. Carlos grinned and waved the bag of snacks they'd brought, but as he jogged over the other boy noticed she didn't look nearly as cheerful to be reunited with her classmates as Carlos did. Rad paced up slower; in fact, she looked downright upset to see the two of them turn up. But not in the angry way. Not at first.

"What are you two doing here?" She hissed, ignoring the bag as Carlos weakly held it out to her.

"Bringing you stuff," Carlos blinked in puzzlement, "You been out here with nothing, 'Lex, we got worried!"

"And it's _just_ you two?" Alexis scanned the road behind them. Her fright was beginning to scare Rad. His brows furrowed.

"Who else would we bring—Bill and Fred? Geez, Alexis, we're trying to help here." The reassurance brought a guilty look to her eyes for a moment. She quickly scowled to cover it up.

"What if someone followed you?"

"So what?" Carlos rubbed his neck, cringing at the sweatiness still lingering. "Are you in trouble?"

"No...! No, no, it's fine." She rubbed at her temple, thoughts racing faster than Rad's dinky motorcycle was capable of; her friends were stubborn, and if they were more stubborn than the secret mech just thirty yards from the road… she didn't know how an encounter would go down. Given Starscream's sudden jolt of paranoia, it would probably go poorly. "I just would rather my dad not know where to find me."

"Hey, it's fine, okay?" Rad sighed, "You need a few days away from that place, that's fine. We're just a little freaked out you didn't ask us for help first."

"Well, I didn't ask because this isn't just 'a few days', Rad." Alexis snorted. Carlos's eyes widened.

"But… you can't just run away."

"I can and I have."

"You could crash with one of us!"

Alexis gave a soft laugh, "Okay, I cannot imagine your mom being convinced to take in another kid. Just saying." She turned abruptly, "I mean… this is a nice gesture, but I'd really rather not talk about it."

"Not even to us?" Rad's brows furrowed further, striding after her, "We're your friends."

"And you also have _sober_ parents. So, no, not even to you."

"You could at least explain it to us so we could help you better!" Carlos was left scrambling to catch up to the two bickering teenagers. Alexis struggled to keep ahead of Rad, silently praying their noise would warn the metallic giant to slip out before the boy staggered into him. "This is kind of an old excuse, Alexis. We don't need a drunken dad each to _listen_ to your problems."

"But it would help you get why I can't just waltz back into that house!" The girl's voice took on a genuine snarl; this was an old argument, and the emotion flared up in earnest from underneath her layer of fabricated stand-offishness. _Jesus Christ, just get annoyed with me and_ leave _already!_ As the concrete shell of a building came into view her heart pounded, _before something worse happens!_

Rad had stopped, brow ticking furiously and arms crossed, a few yards from the old edifice. Carlos came panting up with the helpful bag of goodies still in tow. He shrugged at Rad's stern looks. _Third fiddle once again_.

"Why does she have to be so damn stubborn...!" The blond growled to himself.

Carlos wisely kept the thought that it was not just Alexis but also Rad who was "so damn stubborn" to himself, instead plopping the bag of snacks onto a nearby concrete block and hinting: "Well, she don't have to spill her guts about everything. Yelling at her is not gonna help her get her shit together."

"No, I mean—" Rad stole a glance up to make sure Alexis wasn't turning back to chase them from her crumbling sanctuary again, "She keeps blocking me. Sure, she's always high-strung but she just sounds like she wants us to _leave_."

"So she wants us to leave," Carlos rolled his eyes, "I'd want us to leave if you kept picking an old scar while she was tryin' to get her head together. Let's just check on her and then go—and not be so annoying."

"I'm _not_ being _annoying—_ "

"Will you two just go!"

The boys directed their attention back to Alexis, standing squarely in the doorway to the building. Though she desperately tried not to seem like she was barring the door, Carlos and Rad both instantly noticed she was barring the door despite her not being nearly big enough to block the entire way. They caught each other's glances before approaching.

"That's not going, guys." She frowned, trying to ignore the sweat beading on her forehead. She hadn't had time to run in and warn the Seeker to get clear of the place, but at her loud protests she started to hear a grinding sound of metallic feet shifting against sand and stone. "I need to be left alone."

"What's so wrong with us being in this wreck, 'Lex?"

"Nothing. Just that you keep following me around when I specifically asked to be left alone!" She squinted at him and shook her head. "And stop calling me 'Lex'. I'm Alexis, not 'Lex'. _Con_ rad."

Rad flinched at hearing his full given name, opening his mouth in indignation and gesturing to the shorter kid.

"You let Carlos call you 'Lex'!"

"That's because Carlos is Carlos."

Carlos almost beamed before his smug look was replaced with wonderment. Something upturned on the ground in the shadows behind Alexis had caught his eye.

"Whoa—those weren't here last time!" The boy scurried past the girl before she could stop him. He slowed to a stop just a foot away from one of the empty energon canisters and its still slightly warm aura, "Holy shit, 'Lex, you didn't think to mention _these big ole things_?"

"What are those?" Rad was less amazed and more instantly worried for Alexis. After all, they had no clue what the human-sized cylinders were or what they had once contained—and he was not keen on letting one of his few friends hang around some potentially dangerous substance.

Alexis was equally worried, but about another potentially dangerous entity. Thankfully, the two teens seemed to have spotted the lightly luminous canisters instead of walking in on a taloned, unbalanced robot. She shot a frantic glare towards the deeper shadows of the room and was relieved to see Starscream had fully slipped out of the way and out of their sight, "Uranium 255 barrels. Of course, it won't affect you two freaks much."

Rad's eyes widened immensely. "Umm. And _you're_ not concerned about that theory being true?"

Alexis sighed. Exasperated. Carlos had edged away from the cylinder just before he'd decided to prod a bit of glowing blue residue.

"Look, maybe they're giant alien beer cans? I don't know, just go back home and don't go spilling to anyone that I'm here."

Rad scratched his head. Of course, as much as he wished Alexis would consider working things out with her family rather than live out in an abandoned construction project he could not imagine letting her relatives in on her secret spot. Finally he sighed.

"Of course we're not going to tell anyone," he assured her. "We just want to make sure you're okay. This stuff is scary, you know?"

"And you don't even know what these big oil drum things are from!" Carlos was aghast, "Hell, they could be radioactive waste or something…"

Alexis bit her lip. It was a caring thought even though she knew exactly what the blue glow was from, and that it was harmless. But she played along.

"You at least gotta keep going to school," Rad pointed out. "I can go sneak your binder over here for you. If you want."

"Sheesh," Alexis sat on the ground. Overwhelming relief filled her—there wasn't going to be a conflict between new friend and old. It was a strange thing to be so scared of, but then again being friendly with what her peers could only classify as a monster beyond their understanding was also strange. She'd been so nasty to them both just to ensure a clash didn't happen; guilt bobbed up among the relief and softened her tone. "That'd be great. Just… don't get caught. I don't know how Dad would react to someone breaking in."

"I'll just do it when they're not home," Rad snorted. Carlos shuffled, uneasy with the topic of what was technically a high crime.

"Can't you just ask him… never mind." He dropped the subject as the more stubborn teens glared over at him. Of course, it would be silly to just ask—asking Alexis's father for her things would be a dead giveaway they knew where she was staying. Neither of the boys liked the idea of confronting the notorious parent anyways. Theft was obviously safer.

* * *

The Seeker stood from where he'd leaned a moment against the wall of the crumbling shelter, listening to the echoes of the three humans' conversation to be sure the two boys were thoroughly distracted. He felt lucky the place had been built with a side entrance in mind, just wide enough for him to pin his wings back and slide out in time to avoid Alexis's cohorts seeing him.

He padded carefully back from the wall, springy heels and toe struts becoming softer and making much less noise. He crept away until he was sure his ordinary footsteps would not be heard or felt. A raspy sigh fizzled from his vent openings. Thank Primus he didn't have to deal with any more humans. Alexis was fine—and to be fair, she was far from a typical human youngster—but he was loathe to pick up his own trio of small, squishable partners so soon. Or ever, really. On further reflection and with a few more careful steps towards the dusty roadside, he wondered what on Earth he was going to _do_ with this young teenaged girl once he was ready to move on and get to the _Harbinger_? He knew for a fact the Decepticons who had set out on that ship would never have considered having resources for _mere organics_ aboard, and besides he didn't know too much of what a human tagging along would need. Well, beyond the basics. Food, shelter, water—beyond that his knowledge was nil.

Wings flicking up he paused the troubling thoughts to listen. The three's faint chatter did not seem ready to cease, though it had become much quieter. He would not have to remain out here much longer. He turned to take another step in his paces and staggered to avoid tripping on something ankle-level.

"Fragging two-wheeler—" Once he'd regained his balance he crouched to snarl at the inanimate vehicle. He only managed to half-snarl before the little orange motorbike struck him as odd. "—wait… what?"

Both talons planted on the ground to support him as he dipped his head lower, cocking up one brow plate as he studied it. He had occupied Earth for several of its millennia—on and off—and had not once encountered a piece of technology as vexing as this one. This called for a long squint and a stroke of his beard spike.

"So, you're what I heard earlier," he snorted. "Hah, what a stupid thing… You look nothing like the Autobot." He gave the sidecar, the one part that was giving him trouble, a curious prod, "What is this malfunction?"

The motorbike never replied, of course, but Starscream continued to mutter along to amuse himself. Another prod to the metal bars holding the sidecar attached to the bike itself, careful to keep his sharp digits clear of the rather dinky tires.

"I wonder if the fleshbag who constructed this _knows_ it looks like an asymmetrical tumorous lump!" He chuckled, shaking his head, "Of course not. Human fashions. Ungh."

In the quiet he pondered whether this thing even counted as a two-wheeler. He stood with a grunt and fanned out his wings to feel an unusually pleasant breeze before his cranial unit clicked. The quiet. Optics widening, he ducked down, wings twitching in annoyance. The kids had silenced—no doubt the two boys were on their way back to their… transportation. With his footfalls muffled again he made for the nearest object large enough to hide his form completely—a thick collection of half-built support pylons, concrete filled with steel rebar bones.

He almost _tsked_ —but that would have spoiled his stealth.

Stealth be damned. It turned out timing was a far more crucial factor on this day. Rad and Carlos had left the snacks with Alexis along with promises of helping her work on her school assignments without needing to cross paths with her ominous father figure. At least for a while. At least until she felt safe. They had all of this in mind as they made their way back down the gravel-strewn hill, dodging thorny weeds and almost having forgotten about the strange cylinders and blue residue inside the half-built building.

Until Carlos gasped and shrieked out:

"The hell is _that?"_

The top-heavy shape on two distinct and defined legs was in sight just long enough to see the metallic glint off its wings before it slipped behind wrecked building supplies. The boys realized they'd jumped back and grabbed onto each other, hastily disentangling themselves from each other's grips and crouching instinctively to hide should their discovery turn around.

"Metal Bigfoot, sorta?" Rad's first thought sounded stupid to his own ears, but it was all he could come up with from the quick glimpse.

"Looks more like Birdfoot or something…"

"Boltfoot," Rad swore under his breath, quickly glancing back towards the crumbling building to be sure Alexis wasn't out in the open, in full view of this… this… something. "It was _metal_. Damn, it was _metal._ Why was it _metal?"_

"I dunno—" Carlos had continued craning his neck after the vast form, pointing out a row of rebar-filled concrete pylons that had once been intended as the backbone of another large edifice. "It's gone behind those pylon thingies."

Against the instincts of self-preservation but totally in line with natural curiosity, Rad jerked his head in a goading motion before beginning to crouch towards the wall of half-built pylons. Carlos mouthed a curse word with head shaking, but caught on to the beckoning gesture. He copied the older boy, peeking around the furthest pylon, becoming bolder and bolder as a threat or mysterious creature was absent from their sight and senses. A minute of tentative scouting later they were on the opposite side where the beast was last spotted. Faced with the beautiful, if stark, desert landscape.

The desert landscape was peaceful. More importantly it was empty. Not even a faint sheen of metal mysterious beings moving away in the far distance. Rad almost tripped as he stepped down into a divot, and on looking down he took in the inch-deep depression, edges freshly crushed in. A footprint of some sort. Or several. Well, there were many "prongs", or toes, or something prong-like or toe-like forming several prints, the smallest of which were slightly larger than his own shoes.

The largest of which were easily ten times larger than his shoes. They belonged to something he could safely guess was enormous. Enormous, and something that had not left any more footprints after this single one he'd stumbled into.

"It's… highly unlikely the thing's just flanked us, right?"

Rad shook Carlos, "Right?"

Carlos grabbed his friend's wrist to stop his shaking. He was otherwise preoccupied with the enormous form currently casting its shadow on them from behind, glaring down at them from its perch on the tops of the pylons.

Glaring with fiery-red eyes, like those of a stereotypical movie monster. For a few painfully long seconds neither the metallic giant or the two boys made a move.

"Oh, _hell no_ ," Carlos whispered, still grabbed onto Rad's wrist, gripping it almost like he'd confused the fellow human's limb for a weapon. The taller boy grimaced as the huge thing's wings flared out and gave the impression of even greater size. The mech's legs bunched just before it sprang down at them, throwing up a cloud of desert dust with a heavy thud.

"What are you doing here," Starscream's first words to the pair were a menacing snarl, stooping low over them and inspiring both to scuttle backwards in fright. "…pathetic humans?"

 _Well, shit._ Rad's thoughts raced. How on earth had Alexis—previously confirmed by himself to be way smarter than the both of them put together—managed to miss a thing like this stalking around just a block or two away? He swallowed, nervous, and then smiled, even more nervous.

"Nothing, we were done, actually." He took a few more steps back, dragging a speechless and pale Carlos with him, "Nice to meet you, uh, giant robot monster, we'll just go now…"

The creature's brows slanted down, eyes becoming dangerously narrow. It growled in its throat and stepped forward, planting a silvery toe into the kids' escape route.

"No," he rasped, talons twitching as he raised them. He seemed to mull over something for a moment, gaze passing back and forth between the two and scowling even deeper, " _Not_ nice to meet me. In fact, you saw nothing. You were never here."

"B-but… we _were_ here, why—"

" _Carlos,"_ Rad ground his heel down onto the other boy's toes. " _Shut up...!"_

The Seeker's low snarl of frustration almost drowned out the teenagers' squeals of fright as massive claws plucked them from the ground and held them at eye-level. The two sealed their lips and shot each other fearful glances at the nasty look this robot was studying them with; each was bewildered as to how their charitable snack-food run had transformed into this situation.

The mech holding them captive let out a snort as he began the desperate "de-briefing".


End file.
